MLB trade rumors and news: Red Sox’s COVID-19 outbreak worsens

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• In just about the worst possible development for a team attempting to remain in the playoff picture, the Red Sox are in the midst of a massive COVID-19 outbreak — one that worsened significantly on Tuesday. Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday and was pulled from Boston’s game against the Rays in the second inning. He’ll join utility player Kiké Hernández, second baseman Christian Arroyo, and relievers Matt Barnes, Martín Pérez, Hirokazu Sawamura, and Josh Taylor on the COVID IL.
• The Giants claimed former All-Star lefty José Quintana off waivers from the Angels — a move that could be particularly important considering that starter Alex Wood tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after the transaction was announced.
• The Mets have announced that outfielder Josh Reddick has been released from his minor league contract. The veteran joined the team after being released by the Diamondbacks. Reddick slashed .182/.289/.303 with one home run over 38 plate appearances while in Triple-A.
• With his rehab assignment just on the horizon, Noah Syndergaard has tested positive for COVID-19. At this point, it just stings from every angle. Could we still have the ultimate comeback story? Keep crossing your fingers on that one.
• Three Phillies players have tested positive for COVID-19. Backup catcher Andrew Knapp, utility player Luke Williams, and right-handed starter Zach Eflin have contracted breakthrough cases of the virus. All players are vaccinated. Eflin was already set to be placed back on the IL before his positive COVID-19 test. The 27-year old was set to come back after being out over a month while dealing with tendonitis, before the injury flared again.
• The forgotten tale of Harry Colliflower, baseball’s worst ever pitcher. So next time you proclaim this title for someone on your team, at least be a little more informed.
• The Dodgers have been on quite the surge of late and that has been happening without the services of one of the best players in baseball, Mookie Betts, who has been dealing with a bone spur in his hip. Now, it looks like he is on track to lift LA to even greater heights as the team activated him from the injured list in a flurry of roster moves.
• The Rays have been putting on quite the show in the second half and, so far at least, have been able to hold off the surging New York Yankees in the AL East. Unfortunately, they did get some bad news as top prospect Brendan McKay was all but ruled out for the rest of the 2021 season with a flexor strain. This makes two seasons in a row that we can now chalk up as lost for McKay, as he missed 2020 with a shoulder injury.
• The remainder of Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty’s season is in question after he was placed on the injured list with shoulder tightness. Flaherty has a 3.08 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP this season but has been limited to 14 starts due to an oblique injury that cost him over two months.
• Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina announced after agreeing to a one-year, $10 million extension with St. Louis that he will retire following the 2022 season.
• Diamondbacks lefty Caleb Smith is the second pitcher to be busted under MLB’s more stringent foreign substance policy. He received a 10-game suspension Tuesday, and Arizona will have to play shorthanded in his absence.
• The San Diego Padres have struggled of late to remain in the NL West race and lately, their stranglehold on the second wild card spot has faltered in a big way. In a move that frankly seems a be desperate, the team decided to fire pitching coach Larry Rothschild with around five weeks to go in the season.
• Mets fans, look away. New York has moved Jacob deGrom to the 60-day IL. In turn, they’ve claimed Heath Hembree off of waivers. Fingers crossed on no other setbacks arising, deGrom could be back in mid-September. So everyone light your prayer candles.
• The Braves know not to let a good thing go. Atlanta has signed Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year extension with a club option for 2024. He’ll earn $16M over the next two years with the team, while his 2024 option does not include a buyout. d’Arnaud is slashing .223/.277/.369 for the year, but his skills behind the plate far exceed what he does next to it. This also buys Atlanta a little more time to prime their young, homegrown catchers, William Contreras and Shea Langeliers.
• The negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA over the new CBA seem to be being productive in the early going, as the league came to the table with a proposal regarding new parameters for salary limitations in baseball. While it would lower the luxury tax threshold to $180 million, it would also impose a $100 million salary floor, which seems like a good starting point for discussion.
• The Dodgers made news yet again, deciding to take a flyer on 37-year-old lefty Cole Hamels, who they signed to a one-year, $1 million deal. However, Hamels suffered a season-ending shoulder surgery while ramping up and won’t throw a pitch for Los Angeles this season. An interesting way to earn $1 million, for sure.
• With Yu Darvish, Dinelson Lamet, and Chris Paddack on the IL, the Padres went out and added a veteran starter (albeit one who has struggled significantly in recent years), signing recently released former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta.
• The Giants have signed shortstop Brandon Crawford, a key figure in their wildly successful 2021 season, to a two-year, $32 million extension.
• The Angels were already having a rough time of it with Mike Trout’s return from a calf injury getting perennially pushed back, now they will be without another bat that they were counting on this season. Anthony Rendon has been dealing with a right hip impingement and will have surgery that will end of his season.
• Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow underwent Tommy John surgery, officially ending his 2021 season and likely ruining his chances of pitching in 2022. Glasnow, 27, has been stellar since joining the Rays in July 2018, and it will be a real challenge for Tampa to get back to the World Series this year without him in the rotation. Glasnow hasn’t pitched since mid-June, when he suffered a UCL tear, though he spent the last six weeks trying to rehab the injury before committing to surgery.
• Encouraging news for baseball fans who don’t like the major rule changes instituted over the last two seasons: Rob Manfred says that seven-inning doubleheaders and the runner-on-second rule in extra innings are unlikely to survive beyond the 2021 season, with Manfred saying those changes were instituted for the purpose of limiting time at the ballpark during the COVID-19 pandemic — something that isn’t expected to be a factor in future seasons.